Date: For Parliament Sitting on 4 November 2026

Name and Constituency of Member of Parliament

Ms Jessica Tan Soon Neo, East Coast GRC

Question:

Ms Jessica Tan Soon Neo: To ask the Prime Minister and Minister for Finance whether MAS will review (i) safeguards for transactions where customers are deceived into authorising fraudulent payments, including foreign currency transactions and (ii) whether banks should be required to provide clearer transaction descriptors and real time protocols to pause pending payments when customers report suspected scams.

Answer by Mr Gan Kim Yong, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Energy, Trade and Industry (Trade), and Chairman of MAS:

1. Banks have implemented a range of safeguards to protect consumers against fraudulent card payments, including those in foreign currency. These include real-time fraud surveillance to detect and block suspicious transactions, alerts and transaction notifications and a self-service kill-switch on mobile apps and fraud hotlines for customers to lock their cards to prevent further fraudulent activity. When customers are asked to approve card payments on their banking apps, they are shown key transaction details, such as merchant name and transaction amount.   

2. If a bank flags a payment as potentially fraudulent, it will block the transaction and notify the customer. Banks will assist customers with their fraud appeal even in cases where the payment has been processed. 

3. MAS will continue to work with the industry to review and strengthen safeguards where appropriate.

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